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By Caroline Cheese at Wimbledon
1304: "Re 1241: I had a friend once whose approach to vegetation was that he couldn't eat anything that was green and that rolled. We had a spirited argument about cucumbers that went on for days. But then, what else do you do as a student?"
tinyMagicDragon on 606
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1300: Even the voice of Wimbledon is struggling to deliver this news with his usual cheeriness: "As expected, we are now experiencing a band of light rain and we've been told to expect a heavier band of rain shortly after until around 4pm. But we are then more confident of a drier spell in late afternoon and evening." 4pm???? That's a whole three hours away. We can't discuss the merits or otherwise of tuna baguettes until then...
1246: "Spent yesterday in Wimbledon village filming a hard hitting expose into how the Championships affects the local economy. Remarkably it turns out businesses make a lot of money - who'd have thought it?! Well, apart from a fishmongers whose takings are down a quarter, which is remarkable considering the consumption of tuna over the last nine days. Sorry I digress, we discovered that Adrian Mills from long running magazine show That's Life (remember it? Esther Rantzen, humorous rude looking vegetables?) owns a swanky Thai restaurant. He revealed to us that it's Maria Sharapova's favourite and she's been in countless times. Loves a black bean dish. Anyway on to the real dirt... according to Mills, the Williams sisters will not dine in the restaurant until Sharapova's been knocked out in case they are in there at the same time. What a terribly bitchy world the WTA is, why can't everyone just get along?"
BBC Sport mole
1241: I tell you what, it could rain all day and there is absolutely no chance of boredom with Dirs and Fordyce around. Dirs reveals he cannot eat anything small and round, such as peas, sweetcorn, baked beans etc. He can, however, eat corn on the cob. Work that one out.
1232: "Ladies and gentlemen, play is suspended." Groans around the grounds as the rain comes down, the players go off and the covers come on. Still, good to see those court-coverers earning their crust at last. And it's not just drops of rain, folks, it's "wet drops of rain" according to the lady on Radio Wimbledon. Woe.
1224: Australia very much on top early on in their battle against Britain. Dane Propoggia is a break up on Dan Evans, likewise Bernard Tomic over Marcus Willis. Still, at least Petch 'n' Wilko are holding their own against Pat Cash and Wayne Ferreira.
1220: "Re 1138: Forget what Andy Murray buys in the supermarket! While I was camping overnight at Wimbledon last week, I went into the town to get something to eat and Nadal was in Tesco's buying loo roll! Not sure which brand it was though..."
sportaddict64 on 606
Join the debate on 606
1218: Radio Wimbledon have dug out UB40's Don't Break My Heart from their record collection, providing an unlikely lift in Commentary Box Three. It's a much-needed lift because I spy umbrellas - and they're not being used to keep off the sun. Boo.
1214: "Apologies Nick (1155), I blame still being slightly intoxicated by the armpit (0950) for my woeful grammar. However looking at the avalanche of texts that have arrived following your remarks I think you have been out pedant-ed (is that a word?)."
BBC Sport mole
(Several people have pointed out that panini is the plural of panino. Let's hear no more about it.)
1210: No hanging about on Court 19, they're off. Britain's number three junior Dan Evans is in action there against Australian Dane Propoggia.
1204: Wow, it's a packed crowd in for Petch and Wilko against Pat Cash and Wayne Ferreira. Cash gets a big cheer just for putting on his black and white checked headband.
1159: "Re 1133: I remember getting melancholy over Esteban's fruitless journey... Re 1145: Pots of desserts is a little vague, don't you think? I want details! Chocolate? Fruity? Sponge-based? Sticky toffee?"
Jacob Barker on 606
Have pressed Mandeep for details - but he says his wife told him off for staring. I don't think it's staring, it's called thorough, investigative journalism, but there we are.
1155: "Re 1107: Does the mole mean paninis? Being a subterranean mammal is no excuse for use of the infamous greengrocers' apostrophe."
Pedantic Nick, at work, via text on 81111
1147: A weather update: it's not raining. It's not sunny either, but unfortunately the graphics available to me do not include 'dry, cloudy, a bit muggy, and with the threat of rain in the air'. Anyway, just as I type that, the cheery voice of Wimbledon tells us the official forecast: "There is a risk of heavy rain during this afternoon but there is a good chance of bright spells between the showers, particularly later on. The temperature will reach just 21C at best. Play on Courts 2-19 will begin on schedule at 12 noon."
1145: Just to satisfy all those people desperate to know what Andy bought in the supermarket (just me, probably). Mandeep tells me he had "Coke, mayonnaise and pots of desserts" in his basket, among other things. So there we are.
1140: "Re 1129: reading Rafa's blog he changed his practice from 1pm to 6pm yesterday as his mother and sister have come over and he wanted to spend some time with them. No worries he is on form."
Anon via text on 81111
1138: The mole might have a rival. BBC Sport's Mandeep Sanghera has emailed in with this revealing insight into Andy Murray's day-to-day life: "Me and the wife saw Murray at around about 2100 BST last night at our local supermarket in Fulham. While the missus was grabbing a loaf of bread, my attention was caught by a lass who I thought looked like Murray's other half. I went to tell my wife and when I looked up again Murray was only standing there with shopping basket in hand. After I momentarily stood in disbelief me and the wife went to the frozen section, while Andy and Kim went towards the soft drinks. Soon after, Andy and Kim then took their place in the next checkout queue to us and he pretended (in my opinion) to be on his mobile phone. A classic footballer's trick when walking past journos in a mixed zone. Anyway, I hope he made Kim carry the shopping bags home so as not to tire out his magic tennis arm."
1133: "Does Rafael Nadal remind anyone else of one of the characters from The Mysterious Cities Of Gold when he speaks? It's something about his mouth, as if it's disassociated from the rest of his body."
BBC Sport's Ben Dirs
1129: "Caroline, do you not perhaps see it as slighly ominous that Mr Nadal missed an hour's practice yesterday because he was apparently shopping? Perhaps his little 'injury' isn't quite as minor as he's letting on? Thoughts people?"
James from Kent, at work and hoping for rain so to not miss any action, via text on 81111
1125: Massive love for BBC Sport's Ian Westbrook who has just turned up with not one, not two, but three free muesli bars. Excellent work. Not only that, he has got his hands on the Royal Rox list. Jimmy Tarbuck, Alan Titchmarsh, Bruce Forsyth... it's a who's who of light entertainment. I can hardly wait. And Mansour Bahrami and Henri Leconte will no doubt be up to all sorts of mischief as well.
1112: "Caroline, does Mario Ancic not even pop up on the dreamboat radar, or am I alone there?"
Katy, bored in the oddly sunny north east, via text on 81111
On any other day, perhaps.
1107: "I blame my breathlessness (1025) on yet another fry-up this morning. There just aren't suitable snacks on offer for a mole here. I need worms, not wall-to-wall meatball panini's. Anyway, I can report that Cheese is in fine form although seemed a little twitchy which I put down to the impending Safin v Lopez drool fest. Still really quiet around the grounds although Tiger Tim has just arrived, nursing a sore throat."
BBC Sport mole
1103: "Had a dream last night that Murray won in straight sets 7-5 7-5 6-1. Mind you I also dreamt Federer won his first service game sitting down, and for some reason they were only playing on half of Centre Court. A good prognosticator I am not."
Anon via text on 811111
1057: Le Fed, Mario Ancic and Feliciano Lopez are all on the outside courts practising at the moment. I'm just watching Lopez go through his paces, strictly to see how his forehand is shaping up, you understand. Ben Dirs looks at me pitifully and says: "He's just a tanned man in a white outfit."
1051: "Just saw King Rog having a knock up on Court 15 in his cardie. It only lasted a few minutes though because he only had three balls (one yellow, one white, one yellow and orange) and the bloke he was hitting with was rubbish and kept hitting it over the fence."
BBC Sport's Ben Dirs
1044: Actually, there's Brits everywhere you blimmin look. On Court 14, Marcus Willis faces top seed Bernard Tomic, then Laura Robson is up against someone called Lesley Kerkhove, then Naomi Broady meets Nikola Hofmanova.
1034: The gates are open and as ever, a few people just can't wait to take their seats on Centre. They'd be better off heading for Court Three where the Union Jacks will be flying for Mark Petchey and Chris Wilkinson as they take on Pat Cash and Wayne Ferreira in the over-35s.
1032: Incidentally, if you're texting in with 'I'm not supporting Murray because's he's Scottish and said he hates England', you'll be getting very short shrift here. Andy made a joke, an off-the-cuff remark, which has been blown so far out of proportion, it's embarrassing. End of rant.
1025: Sorry, small delay because the Mole made the trip up to Commentary Box Three for a natter. Well we had a natter once he'd got his breath back from climbing three flights of stairs. S'pose it's a long way for a mole. BBC Sport's Ian Westbrook texts to let us know that the Piccadilly Line is now back on track. Hurray.
1011: The men in green are out and covering Centre Court as the rain falls. According to someone on 606, this is good news as it means it is less likely to rain later. A brilliant, if completely erroneous, statement.
1005: Charged with the unfortunate task of following Safin and Lopez onto Court One are Arnaud Clement and Rainer Schuettler. Personally, I'm backing Schuettler all the way after Clement cruelly ended the hopes of my dark horse Marin Cilic in the fourth round. And cost me money too.
1000: "Raining? It's bright sunsheeine here in Manchester, maybe they should move the Championships up north. Anyway, Murray to win in five again, I shall be watching from the pub."
maxthedon on 606
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0956: Of course, there are other matches today apart from Murray v Nadal and Safin v Lop... aaah... sorry drifted off there... Anyway, yes, first up on Centre Court is defending champion Roger Federer against Mario Ancic. The Croat is the last person to beat Federer at Wimbledon, as every single preview of this match will tell you. Since then, though, Federer has beaten Ancic five times, including a straight-sets pummelling in the 2006 quarter-finals at SW19.
0950: "Had a terrible night's sleep due to the heat, foxes play-fighting outside my window and sheer excitement about ANDYMONIUM!!!! As a result I felt especially bleary on the way in today. Any tiredness was soon knocked out of me by spending an hour nestled in the armpit of a large man on the District Line. Once at Southfields I was surprised there was barely anyone on the streets at all. Where is everyone? Where's the bunting? Where's the freebies? Is everyone stuck on the Tube? Or, heaven forbid, scared off by yesterday's terrifying tuna baguette drought?"
BBC Sport mole
0944: Of course, there are other matches on today. No, really, there are. And as many of you have already noted, I will be incommunicado from about 1300 BST when the all-dreamboat quarter-final between Marat Safin and Feliciano 'F-Lo' Lopez takes place on Court One. Ladies, it gets no better.
0941: "Caroline, what's your guess for the time Andy will be on court? It was gone midnight here in Abu Dhabi when he defeated Gasquet and I might need to plan in an afternoon powernap."
Mark via text on 81111
Without rain delays, I'd say from about 1530 BST. Given that they reckon rain will delay play, I'd say more like 1700 BST, if not later. Basically, I have no idea.
0930: Double curses. I also missed the beginning of coaching guru Nick Bollettieri's daily musings on Radio Wimbledon - or Wimpleton, as he calls it. Never fear though, I caught the best bit. "I wanna go on the record here," he begins. "I believe Andy should have no game plan at all." Warming to his task, the Don starts shouting this last bit: "No damn game plan at all brother. Do what comes as an instinct to you, do what comes naturally. He's got to do what he's go to do. I'd say - fight your butt off and compete to the bitter end. Go for it baby, be brave." Yeah!
0921: Curses. Just nipped out for a medicinal coffee and it started to rain. I don't think those two things are related. Have also just learned that weatherman John Ketley likes the Kaiser Chiefs and The Feeling.
0912: As you may or may not have noticed, I've had a couple of days off - during which I largely watched tennis from the comfort of my sofa. It took approximately an hour and a half on London's Tube system to wipe out all the good it did me. So for those of you on your way to Wimbledon, a warning: there are severe delays on the Piccadilly Line and minor ones on the District Line.
0903: Britain's tabloids are looking ahead to today's big match in their usual understated style. The Sun have mocked up a picture of our hero with lion's teeth - which I'm sure they did to Tim Henman back in the day. "I oughta slaughter bloke from Majorca (in the quarter)," says their front page. "C'mon Andy, you're a true British hero," cries the Daily Mail. And according to the Daily Mirror, Tim Henman has told Murray "Centre Court now belongs to you". I'm sure the All England Club might have something to say about that fellas.
0853: There's a man with a squeegee mop out on Centre Court, but don't panic, there's still no rain. He's just clearing up after the man re-painting the lines.
0846: It's not actually sunny - but it's not raining, and the weather forecasters appear to have become a bit more optimistic since yesterday. Here's the official word from the All England Club: "A bright start in places, otherwise cloudy with rain at times, perhaps locally heavy with a low risk of thunder. Becoming brighter from the west later with some sunshine and just one or two showers."
0835: Morning all. If you're not at the very least reading this with a union flag painted on your face while wearing a comedy British jester's hat and massive blue 'Murraymania' foam hands, frankly you've let yourself down. It's men's quarter-finals day, and Andy Murray's still in it. Innit?
- We'll be here throughout the day to bring you the latest news from around the All England Club, both on the courts and off, so whether you're settling down at home, stuck in the office or queuing on Church Road, send us your thoughts.
(BBC)
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